Closure seal



3 1943- s. B. HARRIS 2,328,068

CLOSURE SEAL Filed Nov. 27, 1940 .s/ww/rz. amine/q,

Q i C UNIT :STAT- In the drawing-- Patented Aug. 31, 1943 ES PATENT 'QFF f CLOSURE SEAL Samuel Harris, Cristobal, 0. Z. Application November 27, 1940, Serial m. 367,482

r 2 Claims. (01. 2204a) -This invention relates tosealed closures for containers and the like and more particularly to a novel form of apparatus for sealing containers such as fruit jars andthe like or other forms of [receptacles where it is desired to maintain the contents hermetically sealed from atmospheric ori other contaminating influences;

1 ,A sealed. container constructed and arranged i in accordance with the present invention is particularly adapted for preserving jars and the 'like but may be used with equal facility for sealing any conventional type of cylindrical containers. -It is obvious that the container may be made of metal, glass, paper or other compositions of plastic material suitable for packing, storing and preserving perishable food products.

One important object of the present invention .istoprovide a novel form of container closure seal which shall effectively hold the lidor top of, the container inrair-ti-ght, clamping relation to the body of the container. l .Another object of the inven-tionis toprovidea seal closure of the character designated including a pair of angularly disposed cooperatin annular rim members arranged to-engage the container and the closure member to,clamp the @parts in sealing relation; 7 h -Another object of the invention is to provide a closure seal of the characterdesigna'ted which shall facilitate stacking or packing thecontainers .in endtoend relation. i l I i Another object of the inventionis to provide a closure seal of the characterdesignated in which the annular rim members shall cooperate with ya cam or wedging action to facilitate the sealing ,operationof the container. i

A'iurther-object of the; invention is to pro- ,vide an opening device for a closure seal of the character designated which may be conveniently"located so as to reduce to a minimum any danger of the sealbeing accidentally broken when handling containers for transportation or storage.

\A still further object of the invention is to provide a closure sealof the character designated having a plurality of annularly disposed coacting cam wedge surface members which shall engage one another in a positive and efficient manner to seal the contents of acontainer.

These and other objects of the inventionwill be more manifest from the following specification and drawing and more particularly set forth in the claims.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a closure seal embodying the present invention;

ance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation showing the cloand; an inner annular rim member ll arranged to cooperate therewith in the manner shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that these rims are ta- -pered or flared outwardly so that the inner member ll shall pass within the member l0 and lock therewith as hereinafter described.

In this embodiment {of the invention the closure is illustrated asan ordinary cylindrical shaped container orreceptacleindicated by the numeral 12. This container may be an ordinary fruit or preserving jar which may be made of any suitable material. such as glass,. paper or plastic material,v for example.

of the usual tapered shape and includes an open The container is top provided with an outwardly extending pe ripheral flange portion l3. This flange is grooved or dished in the plane of the top as indicated by the numeral 13. to provide a maximum suriace sealing contact a well a reinforce the top at thispart. The closure member for the con tainer includes essentially a gasket member M in engagement with the annular rim portion [3 of the container and a lid member in the form .of a disk [5. The outer periphery of the disk is provided with a circumferential groove l5",

commensurate in size and shape with the container. top groove l3 so as to engage the gasket and seal the contents in an efficient manner.

An importantfeature of the present invention is the novel cooperative arrangement of the pressure applying annular Sealing members iii and ll. These members are preferably made of sheet metal rolled, stamped or formed so as to provide an annular rim portion of suitable depth and tapered. so as to receive one another and also slip over the container body and engage the flange l3 of the container. The arrangement is such that the member-s Wand H are outwardlyflared or tapered so as to provide a convenient assembly and cooperation of the several par-ts. member Hi, this is provided with a lower inwardly turned peripheral flange portion 1 6 which is adapted to engage th container walls and be- Referring particularly to C the annular neath the flange Hi. This member is tapered outwardly so that it may be conveniently applied to the container by inserting the container until the flange I3 is engaged by the rim I 6, The upper portion of this member I is provided with a plurality of peripherally disposed, inwardly turned and spaced apart segmental cam or wedged shaped members l1. These members may be termed segmental inclined planes and are spaced so as to provide for the reception of similarly disposed and positioned segmental cam members I8 located on the upper rim portion of the cooperating annular closure member l I.

The inner rim member I! includes an outwardly tapered body portion l9 and is provided with a lower inwardly turned peripheral flange portion 20 which is adapted to cooperate with the top surface of the closure member l and adjacent the container flange I3, and gasket I4 as shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that in this construction the cam surface members I8 are turned outwardly from the body portion IQ of the rim and these members I8 are of a length slightly shorter than a space 2| between the cam surface I! on the member H). In a like manner the cam surfaces 18 are spaced apart so as to accommodate the cam surface members |'I--l1 formed integral with the outside member Hi.

In assembling the closure parts to the container the outer member ID is slipped over the container so that the flange rim l6 shall engage beneath the flange l3 of the container. Holding the parts in this position, the inner clamping member II is dropped into position so that its lower rim 120 shall engage the peripheral groove IS in the closure lid l5 and the associated cam members 18 shall pass between'the spaced cam members l7. With the parts in this position and holding the outer rim Hi, the inner rim with its cam surfaces l8-l8 is turned annularly and the parts l8l8 are wedged under the operating cam members I?--|1 whereby the peripheral edge of rim 20 is forced against the lid I5 to clamp the same to the container and effectively seal the contents.

A special tool such as a wrench may be provided for holding the outer member and also for turning the inner member with respect thereto. One particular manner of closing the receptacle is by holding the member I!) in fixed position and moving the other member H annularly with respect thereto by inserting a tool in diametrically opposed notches indicated by the numerals 22-22 so that theparts are moved angularly and wedged in suitable contact relation to effectively clamp and seal the closure to the container opening. When it is desired to' open the container, the tool may be applied to the notches to rotate the member II in the reverse direction and thus uncl'amp the rotatable members.

To further provide for opening the seal clamping parts, the outer rim may include a destructable section or portion 24 in the outer rim I0. If such an opener is desired, this may be provided with an integral tab member 25 which may be pulled manually and permit loosening or removing of the outer clamping rim. A feature of the tab 25 is that it is of sheet material and folded against the body portionso that it is not susceptible to accidental breaking or destruction during the handling of the container and at the same time may be opened when desired. This tab 25 acts as a key to the outer rim to facilitate loosening the parts without destroying the inner rim or the gasket. A tab operating member 26 may be temporarily attached to the lid I 5 as indicated by the strap 21.

Having thus described a closure seal constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention, it is obvious that various changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

What I claim is:

'1. In combination, a container having a peripheral flange adjacent the open top portion thereof, a peripheral groove in the top surface of said flange, a lid having a peripheral groove commensurate in size with the groove in said flange, and a sealing device including a pair of cooperating annular clamping members, one memher having a peripheral flange to engage the groove in said lid and the other having a peripheral flange to engage beneath the container flange and enclose the jointformed by said lid with said container flange, telescoping spaced apart cam members formed on the top portion of each an,- nular clamping ring member, the cam surfaces on the outer ring being curved inwardly and the cam surfaces on the inner ringmember being curved outwardly, whereby a relative rotational movement tightens the clamping members on the container flange.

2. A closure sealing device including a pair of cooperating annular rim members, said members having peripherally spaced interengaging cam surfaces curved laterally from their top body portions, the cam surfaces at the top of the outer member being turned inwardly from the body portion thereof, said outer member having an inwardly turned bottom flange rim to engage the container, the inner member having its cam surfaces turned outwardly from the body portion, said inner member having an inwardly turned bottom flange to engage a container lid, and means for imparting relative angular movement to the rim members whereby the cam action of the cam members forces the lid into clamped sealing relation with the container.

SAMUEL B. HARRIS. 

